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Re: CFR's IT contract cost woes.

This is gonna be like the World Cup soccer stadiums all over again. Get Tenders, accept said tender, add "unforeseen expenses" that triples or quadruples the cost......and voila!! You have another white elephant. Never in a 100 years will the costs be earned back, and not even taking into account the rising upkeep and maintenance.

Add into the mix the largely INCOMPTENT STAFF( I do acknowledge that there are lots of VERY COMPETENT CFR employes as well, but they are outweighed by the largely incompetent ones) and you have a state of the art system run by state of the art morons. Money well spent i believe......

Re: CFR's IT contract cost woes.

PMG MINUTES: Use of Consultants in Police Department: briefing by Auditor-General South Africa
Police [1]
Date of Meeting: 19 Mar 2013
Chairperson: Ms A Van Wyk (ANC)Documents handed out:
Civilian Secretariat for Police presentation [2]
SAPS Briefing on use of consultants by the SAPS [3]
Auditor-General South Africa (AGSA) presentation [4]
Deputy Auditor-General Calls for Stricter Controls over the Use of Consultants in the Public Sector [5]
Auditor-General South Africa performance audit on the use of consultants in eight departments [6]
Audio recording of the meeting:
PC Police: Briefing by the Auditor-General South Africa (AGSA) on Report on Consultants [7]Summary:
The Committee Researchers summarised the findings of the AGSA by saying that the report dealt with four projects valued at R596 billion with a total expenditure of R4,039 billion spent on consultants for these projects. In these contracts there were recurring areas of concern, such as expenditure exceeding the contracted to amount, failure to transfer skills from the contractors to SAPS staff and late performance by contractors that went unsanctioned. It was pointed out that the SAPS contracts were not always beneficial to SAPS and that there was insufficient engagement with Legal Services both in the drafting and enforcement of the contracts.
AGSA’s presentation mirrored these findings, saying that the audit process had focussed on efficiency, economy and effectiveness. It was shown that there was insufficient value for money in the audited contracts and that this was due to poor oversight not only within SAPS but also by external bodies. Stricter accountability was recommended. The Secretariat noted that the bidding process was not being conducted with proper engagement of stakeholders and that SAPS needed to be cautious of becoming reliant on independent experts. There should be a focus on skills transfer and adherence to contractual timeline obligations.
SAPS explained that the Nyala refurbishment contract had had problems due largely to SAPS delivering the goods to the contractor late and also that the vehicles themselves were not familiar to the SAPS. The tender process had included quotations, but it later came to light upon closer examinations that the quoted values were lower than the values actually required for refurbishment. It was estimated that the Firearms Control was 80% completed but 70 months overdue, the contractor had been removed from the project. The legal validity of this was being ascertained.
The Committee observed a pattern of poor decision-making in entering into contracts and a disproportionate amount of money spent on acquiring services without concerns about sustainability. Failure to consult with Legal Services when drafting contracts was seen as grossly incompetent, as was the omission of terms that requiring contractors to transfer skills to SAPS employees. This was highlighted by the fact that after entering into a prejudicial contract to refurbish the Nyalas, SAPS was now seeking to replace them anyway. The Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) contract renewal, two days after it had expired, was also raised as an example of incompetence that was yet to be acted on. The Committee reiterated the persistent failure of SAPS to hold individuals accountable and warned that this would not be tolerated. Skills transfer needed to form a part of the contract from the beginning of the process. The individuals guilty of infringements in the contracts that had been audited were still under investigation and depending on the outcome of this, sanctions would be recommended and taken. The Police Secretariat wanted to see proper structures in place to ensure accountability. In terms of the role of legal services, for many legal purposes such as contract drafting, the specialists in the legal services department were not familiar with that particular field.
The Chairperson summarised by saying that the Committee took SAPS contracts very seriously.If a request for laptops took more than 500 days to be dealt with, there was clearly a very big problem. She demanded a number of reports from the Department by the end of the following week. Quarterly progress reports were expected on all the aspects raised in the AGSA performance audit report. She requested clarity over the future of the Nyala vehicles. The number of contracts SAPS was involved in, the other parties and the values involved were also requested.Minutes:Committee Researcher briefing on the performance audit
Ms Nicolette van Zyl-Gous, Researcher for the Portfolio Committee on Police, said that the performance audit conducted by AGSA covered eight departments and 124 contracts over a three year period (2008/09 to 2010/11). 20% of national departments were responsible for 74% of the total spend on consultants. The audit scrutinised the planning and appointment process, the internal capacity of departments, skills transfer, performance management and monitoring, extension of contracts and the finalising of projects.
In the Department of Police R4.039 billion was spent on contractors during the three year. These contracts were the Development and Maintenance of a Firearm Control System, the refurbishment of 200 Nyala vehicles, Adult Basic Education and Training and the Internal Audit Service. There were a number of deficiencies in the focus areas, especially in planning and appointment, performance management and monitoring and closing and finalising of projects. The researcher urged the Committee to query why only four audits had been done and which contracts had not been audited. As the audited contracts only contributed 14% of the budget spent on contractors it should also be queried why such low cost contracts had been selected.In Development and Maintenance of a Firearms Control System, there were a number of key findings. The supply chain management function for information and communication technology acquisition was outsourced to the State Information and Technology Agency (SITA). SITA recommended that the tender be awarded for R102 million and it was awarded for R92.8 million. However, following a series of subsequent addendums, the total value of the contract came to R412.5 million. Despite this, the contract had still not been fulfilled 70 months after the deadline. There was no skills development plan in the contract, despite this being a requirement in the tender request. There had been no sanctions for missed deadlines. The Committee was urged to investigate whether other contracts utilising the services of this contractor had experienced similar problems, exactly how much of the project had been completed, how the Department intended to complete the project and the results of the internal investigation on the matter.
With regards to the Refurbishment of the Nyala vehicles, two separate consultants had been appointed to refurbish the 200 vehicles for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The first was given R61.2 million to refurbish 160 vehicles and the second R18.2 million for the remaining 40 vehicles. The cost was underestimated and eventually came to R176.7 million. 22% of the vehicles were delivered after the deadline. One of the main issues identified in the audit was that the vehicles were imported and not familiar to SAPS. The cost of replacement would have far exceeded refurbishment. SAPS was reluctant to penalise the contractors as they themselves had been late in delivering the vehicles to begin with. They were seeking a new management turnaround strategy to avoid similar problems in the future. The Committee should demand greater detail on this new strategy and the procedure for buying new vehicles as well as which vehicles were being purchased.
In Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) a consultant had been appointed to provide services at a cost of R3453 per learner over three years. After R1.4 million had been paid, the contract was ceded to a second contractor. The second contractor had originally been disqualified from the tender process when it had applied independently, but had been subcontracted by the first contractor. The terms of the contract were amended without written agreement. The first contractor had demanded more money as they claimed that the tender contract had been ambiguous and would cost more than they had first thought. The Committee was urged to investigate why the first consultant’s breach of contract had not been pursued and why the second contractor had been allowed to carry the contract unilaterally after initially being found unfit to do so. The status of the project should also be requested.
The Internal Audit Service appointed the services of KPMG in 2002 for a period of three years at a cost of R29.3 million. However, due to an extension, this was increased by R17.2 million. The same contractor was later appointed again (in 2007) for R33.8 million with an extension of R6.7 million. However, the total payments made to KPMG over both contracts came to R77 million rather than R87 million. Throughout the contracts there was a severe lack of resources, such as laptops, experienced by the contractors. There had once again been inadequate transfer of skills and the failure to provide adequate resources should be investigated. The current status of the internal audit process should also be requested. The R10 million deficit required an explanation.
SAPS appeared to have a habit of entering into contracts that were not beneficial to the Department. The supply chain management division was not supported by the legal services division. This breakdown was what led to contracts being entered into. During the Budget Review and Recommendation process the Committee had recommended urgent attention be given to supply chain management, especially increasing internal controls.Auditor-General South Africa (AGSA) Presentation
Mr Naeem Seedat, Corporate Executive at AGSA, noted that AGSA had a constitutional mandate to strengthen the quality of democracy in South Africa by enabling oversight, accountability and governance in the public sector. Performance auditing looked at the effectiveness of measures put in place by management to ensure that resources have been procured economically and put to use efficiently. This had been applied to the use of consultants by government due to significant expenditure during the period under review, the on-going skills crisis and the implications for the public sector. In contrast to other audits, performance audits focussed on economy, efficiency and effectiveness, rather than financial consistency and accuracy.
Dealing with which departments had been performance audited and why, AGSA looked at overall expenditure. Similar audits were conducted at various provinces which spent R68,5 billion on consultants over the three years. The current performance audit dealt with National departments which spent R33,5 billion. The eight departments were chosen because they accounted for 74% of national expenditure on consultants. Their choice was also based on the outcomes of regular audits that had identified issues. The key focus areas used were: Planning and Appointment processes, Internal capacity at departments, Training and transfer of Skills from consultants to employees, Performance management and monitoring of consultants, the extension of contracts and the closing and finalising of projects.
Key challenges faced across the departments included the failure to conduct comprehensive needs assessments, non-specification of timeline and milestone expectations, use of consultants rather than permanent capacity appointments, ineffective skills transfer, lack of oversight and internal controls, contract extension due to poor project management and a failure to retrospectively analyse projects.
Ms Chrisna Janse van Rensberg, Senior Manager at AGSA, said that in the Department of Police, the three-year period saw a total of R4,039 billion spent on consultants. The audit dealt with 9 projects with a cumulative value of R596 million. A breakdown of each contract was given, including the identity of the consultant, the best available value, the period of the service and the contract classification. Areas of deficiency for each contract were shown and whether 'economy, efficient or effectiveness' had been effected.(1) In the Development and Maintenance of a Firearm Control System, the contractor had been Waymark Infotech and the total expenditure had a significant variance, from the original R92,8 million to R319 million.
(2) The Refurbishment of Nyala Vehicles had been contracted to BAE Land Systems and Black Capital, with an escalation from R79 million to R176 million. There had not been compliance with the procurement policy and the Bid Adjudication Committee (BAC) had indicated that the indicated contract value was underestimated.
(3) Internal Audit Services, outsourced to ALOE Consortium, had seen variances which had been approved by the BAC.Contract specific challenges were shown. In the Firearms Control System contract, four addendums had given rise to a total contract value of R412 million, but it was still not completed 70 months after the deadline. Further, the contract had not included a skills development plan. In Refurbishment of Nyala Vehicles, the costs had been underestimated by SAPS, mark-up fees were not provided for in the contract, deadlines were not met and there had been non-compliance with the conditions of warranty subsequent to refurbishment. In ABET there had been discrepancies which had not been identified during the procurement process. With the third contractor for ABET, the terms of the contract had been amended without an agreement in writing. For Internal Audit Services there had been a failure to meet contractual obligations relating to formal training. There had also been a lack of equipment, such as laptops, and this hindered the provision of training by the consultant. Across all the contracts, there had been non-performance of retrospective analysis or the assessment of the consultant’s performance.
Mr Seedat went through the AG's key recommendations, saying firstly that the audit was not an investigation and was mostly focussed on obtaining value for money:
· This began with compliance with legal frameworks and policies. Adopting best practice guidelines would automatically lead to value-for-money contracting.
· Maximum contract value and deadlines should be adopted.
· Mandatory transfer of skills to permanent staff so as to provide for autonomy in the future.
· Capacity building internally would avoid the need for extension of contracts.
· Learn from the past and apply these lessons in the future.
· Fruitless or irregular expenditure needed to be investigated.
· Comprehensive needs assessment, including accurate cost estimates.
· Manage and monitor performance. Management needed to maintain an arm’s length relationship with contractors and the professionalism of the arrangement should not be compromised.
Reflecting on the risky nature of outsourcing, it was suggested that there should be three levels of assurance.
· Management assurance, relating to executive authority, senior management and accounting officers would be the first level of assurance. Management would address specific recommendations and apply financial control over consultants, demanding annual reports and monitoring activity.
· The second level would be oversight assurance, stemming from monitoring institutions, internal audits and an audit committee. This level should monitor compliance with laws and regulations, follow up on management’s actions and conduct internal audits on the use of consultants.
· The final line of defence in ensuring proper use of consultants would be in the form of independent assurance from oversights committees or councils, public accounts committees and external audits. Strategic and business plans would need to be reviewed and specific issues investigated as well as accountability demanded. Independent audits would go a long way to assuring credibility of information and revealing instances of irregularity.
Mr Seedat ended by saying that the private sector also had a valuable role in minimising the risks of consultation. They should not seek to take advantage of weaknesses in government and should rather aim to be good corporate citizens with consciences and should take steps to avoid malpractice.Secretary of Police comments on Auditor General performance audit
Ms Jenni Irish-Qhobosheane, Secretary of Police, began by saying that an area worth emphasising was the pattern of spending during the reviewed period. The amount spent on consultants had peaked in 2009/10 but declined in 2010/11 (although agencies and support outsourced services increased). Although this was probably a positive development, she asked for more clarity. The general findings of audits dealt largely with the improvement of internal processes and structures with regards to accounting officers, human resources and staff involved in managing the consultants. There needed to be sanctions imposed for non-compliance and this should be monitored by National Treasury and DPSA. All consultants used should be included in reports and plans submitted To Portfolio Committees and there should be quarterly oversight. Planning and appointment needed to take into account the extent to which outsourcing was required and how the cost of outsourcing compared to permanent capacity building. Internal vacancies needed to be regularly assessed taking into account staff retention strategies and contracts should provide for transfer of skills from the beginning of the contract. Naturally staff needed to be made available to receive skills as well.
Bidding would have to be competitive and managed properly. Non-compliance had to be monitored and recorded for sanction. Regular progress meetings should occur and be recorded for oversight purposes. Contract extensions should not occur unless in exceptional circumstances and even then strict procedures should be followed. Contracts deliverables had to be timeously implemented, especially when relating to advanced technology. After each project, retrospective analysis should be conducted so as to determine the extent to which objectives had been achieved and the quality of the processes adhered to.
Generally speaking, there needed to be a distinction drawn between the use of consultants and the use of service providers. SAPS should be cautious of becoming too reliant on private bodies. Operational staff needed to be more involved in the projects and all contracts drafted had to be properly reviewed so that they did not prejudice SAPS in any way. Once objectives had been completed, they needed to be maintained. Monitoring mechanisms needed to be established and should involve clients and stakeholders. Quarterly reviews should hear reports on non-compliance so that prompt action could be taken.
Technology management was a priority area in ensuring smarter policing and was always a concern due to its necessary expense. It was a crucial part of the international policing trend and played an increasing role in everyday policing. However, it needed to be properly implemented as it relied on human resources as well as infrastructure. There needed to be greater operational involvement in solutions and understanding of projects. Technology projects needed to be pre planned and reported on. The operational needs of officers should form part of the projects and regular reporting would assist with ensuring efficacy of projects. Skills transfer was naturally essential as operational teams simply had to be able to properly understand the systems being put in place. Impact assessments would need to be conducted and post contract planning should be included in costing.
Supply Chain Management required a greater involvement in operations in the planning stage and deliverables, as well as the possible inclusion of expert assistance during the planning process. Stakeholders should be kept aware, sub-contracting and associated fees needed to be acknowledged and clearer milestones should be identified. Clear monitoring teams should be established involving operational persons and strict consequences should be implemented for non-delivery. The Secretariat needed to be able to monitor the existence of contracts in order to exercise its oversight authority. There should be review of reports and the focus should be on the impact of each contract on SAPS. Ms Irish-Qhobosheane ended by saying that there were on-going investigations into the contracts identified by the AG. Based on that it was possible that action would be taken against individuals.South African Police Service (SAPS) comments on performance audit
Lieutenant-General Stephan Schutte, Divisional Commissioner for Finance and Administration, began by saying that not all contractors were consultants and there was often a distinction between true consultants and service providers. This distinction would be made throughout the presentation and would hopefully explain some of the issues raised.
Lieutenant-General Gary Kruser, Divisional Commissioner of Supply Chain Management, gave some background to the refurbishment of 200 Nyala vehicles. He said that these armoured vehicles were extremely specialised and would have been far too expensive to replace. The condition of the vehicles varied at the time of the contract and the process of refurbishment included stripping and inspection of all components. The bidding process required bidders to compile detailed quotations per vehicle for submission and approval. There was an emphasis on relevant knowledge and skills required to perform the service and the necessary components that would need to be replaced. The bid was evaluated and awarded to two providers for an estimated cost of R79 million. In response to the AG findings, expert assistance arguably should have been included in the planning process such as consultation with Armscor. Future projects would address subcontracting and associated fees better as well as better contract management with clear milestone monitoring. Monitoring mechanisms had already been implemented to monitor warranties and maintenance plans. The finding of possible irregular expenditure was being clarified with Treasury.
Brigadier Chuene Moshabi, Section Head of Generic and Support Development, dealt with the ABET contract, saying that SAPS had made changes to the contract without documenting them properly and that this would not occur again. The contract period entered into was also vague, not specifying whether it was a calendar year or financial year. In the future both Supply Chain Management and Legal Services would be consulted. There had in fact been savings in the total expenditure due to the project being completed within 29 months rather than 36. The quality of the service exceeded expectations as it adhered to Independent Examinations Board (IEB) standards. Some learners received full General Education and Training Certificates which exceeded expectations.
Ms T Nkosi, SAPS Head of Internal Audits, said that the findings of the AG regarding training had highlighted a failure to include training as a contractual obligation and that this would be done in the future. She noted that the capacity within the Internal Audit department had gradually grown.
Lieutenant General Bonginkosi Ngubane, Divisional Commissioner of Technology Management Services, said that the failure to provide adequate laptops was due to a lack of coordination with the Technology User Council. In the future, this Council would prioritise budget and resource allocation.
Ms Nkosi added that in the future, closing of projects would be done by means of a letter to Supply Chain Management. There would be an impact assessment taking into account the value delivered and the provisions of the contract.Lt-Gen Ngubane said that at the time of the Firearm Control contract being awarded, the SITA regulations had not been promulgated. An independent audit was in progress to determine what exactly had gone wrong, as well as an investigation by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation. A reconstituting internal project team would be established and the body shop tender would be used to obtain the necessary skilled consultants to finish the project. Waymark’s services had been terminated but they were still of the view that the contract was valid, and a legal opinion on this matter was pending. A decision was also pending from the Senior Council on the regularity or lack thereof of the expenditure and issued addendums. The completion status of the contract was being assessed but was estimated at 80%. A date for completion would be set. The reason why the project was expected to be completed was that an Enterprise Programme Management office had been created to enable integration between projects and to better ensure best practice in contracting. In order to properly manage technology it first had to be understood and this was the way forward.Discussion
Ms M Molebatsi (ANC) asked the AG to disclose the five contracts that had been audited but not mentioned in the report as well as the reasons for their exclusion. She also asked SAPS which other contracts involved the Waymark Company. She asked if it was better to repair vehicles rather than purchasing new ones and what the maintenance strategy was for Nyalas. Finally, she asked why consultants were being used instead of staff members.
Mr G Lekgetho (ANC) asked what plans existed to ensure that future skills transfer would occur between consultants and staff. He requested details about vehicles which had had their speedometers removed or reset.
Ms D Sibiya (ANC) asked if there should be an official investigation following the failures in the mentioned contracts or if the audit would be sufficient to yield accountability.
Ms D Kohler-Barnard (DA) asked why the particular selection of contracts had been chosen and how many contracts they had had to choose from. She also asked what sanctions guilty parties would face. She insisted on accountability for mistakes such as underestimating the costs of refurbishing vehicles and asked who in particular was to blame. She asked the Secretariat which document existed that instructed SAPS to take particular steps to ensure legitimacy of consultation, as it appeared from the presentation that these basic standards were not yet in existence. She asked who was responsible for delivering the Nyalas late and also if the refurbishment had been completed yet.
Mr P Groenewald (FF+) said that there was a pattern in SAPS of creating systems to monitor other systems and so on. He said that this obfuscated accountability and compounded the problem. If the tender process for the Nyalas had required comprehensive quotations, it should not be possible for such gross underestimations to be made. He then asked if the project manager had been disciplined for such a gross irregularity.
Ms D Chili (ANC) asked how many trainees had been trained in the period and also if the same contractors were used for a number of contracts.Mr M George (COPE) asked why SAPS claimed that they would teach members how to draft contracts. He said that he had been under the impression that there was a legal services department and said that it was absurd that they were unable to draft proper contracts. For SAPS to say it would learn from their mistakes in the future was to admit that they did not know what they were doing.The Chairperson put it to SAPS that less than 2% of the Firearms Contract had been completed. She asked for their understanding of ‘completion’. She said that there had been four people who were supposed to be providing assistance from SITA and that there was now only one left. She said that Waymark was operating as a labour broker and demanded precise details on the number of contracts SAPS had with them and the value of those contracts. She asked General Mothiba if the old Firearms System was not still in use. She said that there were problems with the BAC in SAPS, as they had on many occasions not been considered fit for purpose. She said that until inherent problems in the structures of bidding and tender awarding were resolved, it was useless to conduct audits or to seek accountability.She said that one of the excuses for the Nyala contract was that the vehicles were not well understood by SAPS, despite having been in SAPS possession for 15 years. She asked if they had been purchased without a contract of maintenance and how they had been maintained for all those years if they were not understood. She said that in one presentation it was stated that SAPS was now considering replacing the Nyalas, after first claiming that refurbishment was deemed to be more cost effective than replacement. None of the presentations, except for that from the Secretariat, had discussed the involvement of the Legal Services in entering into contracts.
Mr V Ndlovu (IFP) asked how a contract could be signed without first being negotiated. He also wanted to know why state law advisors were only being consulted after contracts were terminated rather than in advance.
Lieutenant-General Leah Mofomme, Deputy National Commissioner of Physical Resource Management, took note of the dishonesty of the BAC and indicated that the members thereof were vetted and continually monitored. Regarding the contracts themselves, she said that extensions and variances were applied for from the BAC. There was a 15% threshold for extension of price.
Lt-Gen Kruser said that the challenges faced in the BAC were that the specification process needed to be neutral and unbiased. There was a checklist to ensure that the individuals in charge of receiving a particular bid were not the same as those who stood to benefit from it being awarded. There would not be conflicts of interest in the future. In terms of the BEE company appointed for the Nyala refurbishment, this was done in line with Government procurement policy. They were awarded 20% of the contract and although there was a delay, they had completed the work. The cost expectations were estimated based on consultations with mechanics. The eventual cost was more than this estimation but this was not unusual as it was common for more things to be wrong with vehicles than initially thought. Only after the contract had been signed was every single vehicle stripped and examined. The reason why the Nyalas were unknown to SAPS was that for a period they were not used due to their image as aggressive vehicles. They were being used for unrest situations around the country but had been purchased in a less stable era. In terms of the future, more appropriate vehicles would be used instead.
Lt-Gen Ngubane said that the AVL contract had been renewed two days after it had expired and that legal services had advised SAPS that it was therefore an invalid contract. While the opinion was still pending the contract was still delivered upon but there had been no new unit mounted vehicles installed and the contract had only applied to the existing units. A new tender for this purpose was going to be advertised in the near future. On the general use of consultants, he said that the situation was not adequate. A phased approach would need to be taken to solve the problems. One of the main reasons consultation occurred was to address the skills shortage in Government. SITA was established to close the gap in skills between the private and public spheres. Projects dealing with specific skills required a certain level of expertise which was only available in the short term from consultants, but if they could train employees then in the long term there could be self-sufficiency. Unfortunately this was not happening properly. In general filling vacancies was being done with entry level applicants who could be trained, but this also would take a long time.The use of addendums in extending time periods and expenditure was now prohibited as it implied improper planning before contracting. The Firearms Control Contract was estimated at 80% completion and although this was an estimated benchmark it was based on functionality. He nevertheless conceded that this number was not necessarily objectively accurate.Lt-Gen Mofomme said that the Department was not aware of how many contracts Waymark was involved in and requested time to provide these details. A week was granted for this purpose.Lt-Gen Ngubane said that the old firearms control system was still being used but not in its original form as it was constantly being updated. The AVL contract had not been signed in time by the then National Commissioner.
Brigadier Chuene Moshabi, Section Head of Generic and Support Development, said that there had been about 255 SAPS members attending training in the 2010/11 year but this was not a once-off process. There were various stages of training covering a broad range of areas included literacy and numeracy as well as specialised areas.
The Chairperson said that the question had been how many SAPS members still had to undergo aspects of training. Specific numbers and breakdowns were required and she gave a week in which to give this.
Ms Irish-Qhobosheane said that skills transfer needed to form a part of the contract from the beginning of the process. Consultancy was already subject to internal audit and that this needed to play an emphasised role. The Secretariat needed SAPS to take responsibility for these flaws themselves in order to complement the oversight process. The individuals guilty of infringements in the contracts that had been audited were still under investigation and depending on the outcome of this, sanctions would be recommended and taken. In general the Secretariat wanted to see proper structures in place to ensure accountability and that this required more than just creating systems. Those systems then needed to actually be properly used and relied upon. In terms of the role of legal services, she said that for many legal purposes such as contract drafting, the specialists in the legal services department were not familiar with that particular field.
Mr Seedat said that the nine contracts audited had not all yielded material findings and those which had not, had not been included in the report. Those that had yielded findings fell within the four reported on areas. He also noted that AGSA was increasing the proportion of resources allocated towards performance audits rather than financial audits. Although most contracts carried the potential to transfer skills to SAPS the cause for failure was due to the lack of consideration given to it in the creation of the contract.
Ms Janse Van Rensberg dealt with the speedometers in the Nyalas which had been replaced. This was part of the refurbishing process and that the data in the old odometers had not been retained so that the precise wear and tear on each vehicle was difficult to ascertain. She admitted to not knowing precisely how many contracts SAPS was currently a part of.
The Chairperson summarised by saying that the Committee took SAPS contracts very seriously. She said that if a request for laptops took more than 500 days to be dealt with, there was clearly a very big problem. She demanded a number of reports from the Department by the end of the following week. She said that quarterly progress reports were expected on all the aspects raised in the AGSA audit report. She requested clarity over the future of the Nyala vehicles. The number of contracts SAPS was involved in, the other parties and the values involved were also requested.
The meeting was adjourned.

Re: CFR's IT contract cost woes.

Ag nee man!

I have a cheaper solution, get Brukutu to slap together a license app, give the guys iPad and let them store it in the iCloud, problem solved!

karoo.vellies, please let me know if you get that contract to wash the bakkies, I'd like to help... and by that I mean we could sit back under a tree, drink cold beers and look at dirty bakkies for the next 70 months